Products made of pineapple, banana, jute yarn being exported to 39 countries

The yarn is manufactured from the banana plant, pineapple leaves and jute fibre. It is then blended with cotton yarn and used to make different home décor products . Other materials such as bamboo, cane, date palm leaves, palm fiber, water hyacinth, 'dhaincha' and corn husk are also used in this process to make different products, from T-shirts to kitchen utensils. .

Almost all of the products are exported to 39 countries of the world including Germany, Netherlands and Spain. Among the buyers are well-known companies such as KiK, Zara and Walmart.

This is the story of Classical Handmade Products BD Limited (CHP). Entrepreneur Md Tawhid Bin Abdus Salam founded CHP some 15 years ago. He started career in buying house job and teaching at the beginning but later switched to become an entrepreneur with a view to create jobs for lower income people

The initiative that he started with only Tk 1.4 million and one staff member has now become a company with an investment of around Tk 2 billion. The company employs 4,700 employees, of whom 86 are women. This correspondent recently talked with CHP’s managing director Tawhid Bin Abdus Salam at his office in Motijheel recently.

Tawhid is from Mathbaria upazila in Pirojpur. He was born and brought up at AGB colony in Motijheel. Tawhid’s mother wanted him to become a physician and the father dreamt Tawhid will become a fashion designer. He obtained bachelors in fashion designing.

Tawhid did not really want to become an entrepreneur at the beginning. After his HSC exams, Tawhid got admitted to BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT) in 2000. He was the student of the first batch of the university’s fashion design department. While in third year, Tawhid got a job at the marketing department in a Netherlands-based buying house. After completing bachelors, Tawhid taught at two universities as part time teacher alongside continuing the buying house job.

It was March in 2007. Tawhid went to Nilphamari with colleagues where he saw a local woman crushing stones at Dimla upazila. During a chat, Tawhid came to know that the woman earns a meager Tk 40 by working for the whole day. The woman could not even manage her meal with such a pittance. This incident struck Tawhid. Within three months, Tawhid left the buying house job and initiated own business with Tk 1.4 million of his savings.

In the beginning, Tawhid rented a small room in Motijheel and started the business hiring only one employee. In November 2007, he set up three weaving factories in Nilphamari and Rangpur with 30 workers employed in each factory. From the very beginning, Tawhid aimed to export his products and took part in an exhibition in Germany with shatranji (a traditional hand-woven carpet or rug) within two months of setting up the factory. The product was a hit at the exhibition.

After coming back to the country, Tawhid registered the company named Classical Handmade Products BD. In March 2008, the German clothing chain KiK placed a purchase order of 100,000 shataranji or rugs at around Tk 8.6 million. Since then, the business continues to increase.

After the export of these rugs, the demand for CHP products increased further. In 2010, Tawhid started to prepare baskets made of bamboo, cane, jute, kashful and hogla pata. The basket also became popular within a short time. Tawhid would export five containers of basket and shataranji rugs every month.

CHP started making laundry bags, rugs, placemats, carpets, sitting stools, chairs, lampshades, shopping bags, home and garden décor items and pet houses gradually. Tawhid said they produced every home décor item possible.

Their list of products includes spa items, paper boxes and metal boxes. Tawhid also makes new items from recycled products.

CHP now has six factories in Nilphamari, Bogura and Rangpur. As many as 283 types of products are made in the factories. The company’s net profit last year was usd 11.1 million.

Tawhid said he always strives for sustainable materials, good work environment, product quality and timely delivery. Meanwhile, he had a clear understanding of product colours, standards, management systems, etc, due to his academic background in fashion designing. These factors helped him succeed in the business.

CHP currently has 17 domestic and foreign certificates. The company also received national awards several times in the handicrafts export category. The awards include President's Industrial Award, Bangabandhu Industrial Award, SME Award, HSBC Export Excellence Award and jute producer award.

Alongside export, CHP also sells products online in the country. The company also sells its products at SME fair and other events. Tawhid said he plans to open outlets in future.

Tawhid wants to further strengthen his position in export and plans to do branding of the products abroad directly. He has already started the process to prepare related documents in Europe. He also has plans to produce and export the raw materials of these products in India and Sri Lanka.

Tawhid had to go through struggles during the coronavirus epidemic. He incurred a loss of over Tk 80 million at that time. To cut the expenses, Tawhid moved his office to Motijheel from Gulshan that time. Although being able to overcome that shock, Tawhid still faces challenges.

Rising inflation has led to unavailability of handicraft workers with low salaries. Getting skilled workers has become a big challenge. The dollar and energy crises also hamper the business. Production cost has shot up due to electricity price hike. He planned to set up solar panels as a sustainable alternative but couldn’t open a letter of credit (LC) for procuring machinery due to the dollar crisis.

“Everyone wants to set up a factory in Dhaka-Chattogram considering supply and transportation facilities. But I’ve taken the factories to the village, at the doorsteps of poor people. This makes them able to work at their own homes staying with family members. They can also save a lot of money.”

Also, we are increasing the use of yarn from banana plant, pineapple or jute fibre in a sustainable way for the textile sector. These products have high demand in the domestic and international markets. It also reduces carbon footprint along with diversification of exports.